RS

MEMBER DIARY

No Justice Roberts, The healthcare mandate is NOT Constitutional if viewed as a tax.

In the majority opinion, Chief Justice Roberts admits the mandate to purchase medical insurance is Unconstitutional. He them claims that Obamacare doesn’t actually contain such a mandate, but the penalty for not doing so is Constitutional as a tax. The relevant text from the Constitution, in Article 1, Section 9 reads:

No Capitation, or other direct, Tax shall be laid, unless in Proportion to the Census or Enumeration hereinbofore directed to be taken.

The ONLY amendment addressing Congresses power to tax is the 16th, dealing with INCOME tax, which this is not. therefore Article 1, Section 9 MUST be the controlling language. By any rational definition, the ‘tax’, which even supporters on Obamacare insist is NOT a tax, is either a DIRECT tax, of not a tax ate all. As such, to be Constitutional, it must be apportioned amount the states in proportion to population. By no POSSIBLE stretch of the imagination can taxing people based on not buying a product be apportioned among the states

I am aware that there are Supreme Court decisions purporting to define direct taxes in a manner inconsistent with my reasoning. That said, given that my PRIMARY point is to argue the Supreme Court is WRONG, I will require more than the fact they disagree to be persuaded.